The number of procedures to be carried out by a wireless terminal device, such as a mobile station, has increased considerably as a result of advances in mobile communication technology. A mobile station is no longer used for calls exclusively, but the mobile station enables information to be processed and presented in a more and more versatile manner. Generally, the display of a mobile station is so small that it restricts the amount and illustrative power of the information to be displayed.
Generally, the display of a wireless terminal device may be divided into a front and a background. According to the prior art, a user of a terminal device receives information only through the front, such as text shown on the display. Since the display is very small and the text to be shown thereon should, however, be large enough to enable the text to be read, the user is provided with only a very small amount of information at once. The display may, however, provide more information e.g. such that the display has to be browsed on, or a procedure has to be selected first on the display. On many occasions, however, it is difficult to browse the display and, typically, selecting a procedure is a separate and often also an additional step in the operating sequence.
According to the prior art, various effects, such as bold characters and icons and colours thereof, are commonly employed on larger displays in particular, such as computer monitors. The icons of Yahoo!® Messenger, for instance, enable e.g. the status of a contact to be presented such that an available person is designated by a smiling smiley while an unavailable person is designated by a sad smiley. In a mobile station also, it would often be useful to receive information e.g. on the status of a contact person in a phonebook. Many effects used on monitors are not, however, directly applicable to the display of mobile stations or, due to the physical smallness of the display, they are not illustrative enough.